Variation theory of learning

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Variation theory of learning

• From the phenomenological tradition

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What if there is no available model that match?
Then the learner has to directly confront the
phenomenon and learn, And we have always been
like that. And we have always been learning and
having transfer
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• It is also a notion that stands against the
  rationalist tradition of thinking
• Which sees understanding of the world must start
  from the fundamental constituents
• Descartes complex description are built up of
  primitive ideas or elements
• Kant all concepts are rules for relating such
  elements
• Frege Rules could be formalized for manipulation
  without interpretation.
• Cognitivism information processing model of the
  mind
• mental model/internal representation as
  prerequisite for learning
• Higher order thinking and the learning paradox
• Lets take the phenomenon as the point of
  departure

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• Theory about the structure of our Awareness
  (Gurwitsch)
• One cannot be attend to everything equally at the
  same time. ( a difference in the degree of
  prominence)
• At any instant, some aspects come to the fore as
  figure ( with focal attention)
• and others recede to the background

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• Yet things in the background co-exist, though not
  directly focused upon. (peripheral attention)
• The part-whole relationship sustain the
  foreground stand out from and in relation to the
  background.
• Without this relationship, the foreground will
  lose its meaning. (Dialectic relationship).
• When some new situation pops up, the structure of
  awareness can change dramatically. something that
  was very peripheral becomes very
  central.(dynamic.)

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• Orthogenetic Law of Development (Hernz Werner)
• Borrowed from biology
• Organic development of the whole, from an
  undifferentiated whole, to greater and greater
  differentiation and integration of the parts
• Continual holistic development.
• All the way the whole changes as a system.

Remark For example, when one learns 1, it
must be against something else which is not
1, And when he learns 2 in addition to 1,
then the 2 must mean something in relation to
1, and the idea of 1 also changes
Very Different from a cumulative,mechanistic
views on development
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• Phenomenonlogical approach
• Begin with how people experience / interact with
  the world
• Existentialist philosophy
• The observation is always bounded, from certain
  vantage point
• Different people, different instances
• ? different ways of seeing the phenomenon
• Every phenomenon is the sum of all the possible
  ways of experiencing it,
• it is inexhaustible

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• What is Phenomenography?
• To identify how people see the same phenomenon
  (situation),
• The relationship among these different ways of
  seeing/experiencing the phenomenon
• Based on empirical studies
• To explore how we can help people transcend the
  different ways of seeing

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• Why is phenomenographic theory relevant to
  education?
• Learning is seen primarily as a change in our way
  of seeing or experiencing something in the world
  around us.
• Errors as alternative ways of seeing
• The comparison makes us more aware of our own way
  of seeing, much of which may have been taken
  for granted for so long
• Understand more about What to teaching

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• variation theory of learning, (F.Marton), an
  effective way of seeing the phenomenon can be
  developed if the learner can experience important
  variations of that phenomenon,
• (1) To learn about something implies that you
  must discern that something from its background.
• And it is the students who must be able to
  discern
• If there is no variation, then there is no
  discernment, because You do not attend to things
  that is always the same. E.g. the story in the
  chapter about stomach disease
• eg. the ball-hitting training experiment
  mentioned in the chapter

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To discern something include the perception of

• its internal elements and configuration (structura
  l aspects )
• and how the thing relates to a certain external
  horizon ( referential aspects ),
• both have to be present in the awareness at the
  same time.

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• Variation implies both same and difference
• Through variation the different aspects can be
  discerned
• Variation can be brought about with
• instances here and now, or in the past
• Variation creates new openness

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• Discernment from and in relation to the context
• Variation should be done in context (not losing
  the whole)

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For example Within the context of the whole
program, you vary its elements and see how it
changes the behavior of the whole program. In so
doing you develop from a fussy to a refined
understanding about the program What elements
are there and how they relate to each other
Variation should be done in context (not losing
the whole) Because an accumulation is an
accumulation not only if it has a certain
internal structure of AAB. It also depends on
its external linkage, I.e. what A, and B are in
the whole program.s
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• So that the learner can Discern important aspect
  of the phenomenon, from and in relation to the
  context (or contexts)
• More complex learning would require the
  simultaneous awareness of several important
  aspects ( and fluent switching among the
  different foci)

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• (2) Create situation to Expose the different way
  of seeing
• Phenomenological challenge to teaching is that
  the teacher and the students are seeing the thing
  in very different terms, but It is often easy for
  the teachers to take things for granted. and
  hence not too sure why is it worthwhile to teach
  something. (seems just a matter or knowing
  more..)
• By creating situation that can allows different
  approaches in doing the same thing

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• E.G.
• How one take 8 cups from 10
• How one count the cubes in a rectangular block.
• How one list all the possible combinations
• Different ways of structuring branching to do
  categorization
• What sort of questions can you ask based on a
  Dbtable
• How students interpret what a program/ action
  does
• The variation help students learn news ways of
  seeing from each other. And let the fundamental
  idea stand out from the detail of the procedure.
• Also let teacher knows what to teach.

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• This variation theory aim at solving the learning
  paradox how can we train students to face
  unknown future incidences based on the known
  cases.
• From the current situation, if we get sensitive
  to the critical dimensions of variation in that
  situation,
• then we dont just learn the current situation
• We actually earn a capability that will enable us
  to handle many other possible cases different on
  that dimension, that may arise in the future.
• In future circumstances, we will be sensitive to
  that aspect (or dimension of variation), because
  we will not just see a thing as it is we can see
  the thing as a specific one among the different
  possibilities, (in terms of how it might have
  been different in that aspect.)

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This explains why some designed learning is even
poorer then natural learning. Because teacher
only give correct incidences, in a very sterile
way, without the necessary variation that brings
more meaning to the incidences. Just imagine
you follow closely every instruction in a
step-by-step MsAccess book until you get the
complete final product up running. Any
comment? It also explains why some natural
learning is not as effective as well designed
instruction. Ad hoc encounter vs systematic
structuring of variations. E.g. Teacher bringing
into focus contrastive alternatives not
immediately accessible in the natural
experience E.g. Teacher opens up the multiple
dimensions layer by layer. Varying certain
aspect while keeping others invariant. Bring
about a spiral continual development a sequence
of successive opening, closure, opening, closure
and so on.
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This theory does not rule out the use of other
theories in designing instructions, like Task
analysis and Mental models. Nor does it see those
theory mandatory. According to this theory,
Learning begins from the level where the learner
is able to directly experience the phenomenon.
Effective way of seeing the phenomenon is
developed according to the variation experienced.
Learning does not have to follow a bottom-up
sequence, Nor does it require a pre-existing
mental model. This theory also imposes no direct
preference on the form of interaction (whether or
not it is whole class or in groups). It is more
about the content of the interaction, namely what
variations have been brought into the teaching
and learning process, and whether those variation
is conducive to the learning of the critical
features of the object of learning. It call for
a fine analysis of the actual classroom
interaction to find out its structure of
variations which may reveal the mythical elements
that explains why one lesson is more successful
than others.